Shoaib Ahmed Siddique, secretary IT and telecommunication in Pakistan and Minà Dowlatchahi, FAO representative, have virtually signed an MoU to thwart any delay imposed by worldwide social distancing in the wake of COVID-19
Speaking at the occasion, Shoaib Ahmed Siddique said that agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan’s economy as it contributes around 20 per cent in the overall GDP and is a big source of employment.
Through the MoU, the organisations vow to collaborate in providing a framework for supporting the formulation and execution of local and/or national projects in Pakistan. These projects will aim to benefit sustainable and inclusive agricultural and food systems (agriculture, livestock, forestry, aquaculture) to contribute to achieving zero hunger and poverty eradication.
The organisations jointly agree to host the “e-Agriculture Innovations Challenge” to be held in Islamabad to address the pressing challenges facing agriculture sector.
Low growth, water shortage, environmental concerns, volatile energy prices, rising expectations of consumers – these are some of the complex challenges the agriculture sector is facing today, in the face of diminishing production profit margins for farmers.
According to him, Pakistan’s Ministry of IT and Telecommunication aims to resolve these challenges through technology interventions by bringing innovative solutions for increased yield and profit margins for the farmers.
Minà Dowlatchahi, FAO representative Pakistan said that 80 per cent of arable land is in small farms in Pakistan, the vast majority still under outdated agriculture systems. Innovation is the process whereby individuals or organisations bring new or existing products, processes or ways of organisation into use for the first time.
Innovation in agriculture cuts across all dimensions of the production cycle along the entire value chain - from crop, forestry, fishery or livestock production to the management of inputs and resources to market access.
